 My thanks to Shawnee McDonough and everyone in the MCPF leadership for inviting me and for arranging today’s presentation.  Also, I certainly appreciate World Wide Technology, Inc. making their personnel, facilities and equipment available.  Thank all of you for being here!

Why We’re HereWhat We’ll Cover  Workforce diversification and its effect on emergency preparedness and response  Real-world examples: best practices and other practices  Ways to identify and overcome language barriers  Challenges posed to continuity of operations  Language barriers in schools  Language barriers and first responders  Critical Crisis Communications Criteria  Be RIGHT  Be FIRST  Be COMPETENT  Be CONSISTENT  Be CREDIBLE  Show COMMONALITY  Emergency Notification Systems  Questions for discussion

Let’s set the stage...

37 States reported increases Pennsylvania – 43.96% Missouri – 76.58% Kentucky – 83.67% Delaware – % Arkansas – % Kansas – % North Dakota – % South Carolina – %

 121 Warning Forecast Offices  800 Individual Transmitters  Coachella, CA  El Paso, TX  Harlingen, TX  Pharr, TX  Hialeah, FL

1990 – 2000: More than half the growth of the entire U.S. civilian workforce was attributable to immigrants. Projected that, between 2016 and 2035, immigrants will account for all of our working-age population growth. * 2006 National Association of Manufacturers Report

Tactically: On-duty Staff Off-duty Staff & Families of On-duty Staff Stakeholders: Customers, Shareholders, Regulatory Agencies, & Media

CREDIBILITY Be RIGHT Be FIRST Be COMPETENT Be CONSISTENT

 Military members isolated for 21 days – no similar requirement for civilians returning from the outbreak area.  CDC acknowledges “porous borders” as one of the factors hindering the efforts to stop the spread of the epidemic, yet U.S. borders remain open.

Be CLEARShow COMMONALITY  Cut through the crap.  Be brief, but not at the expense of necessary information.  Say what you need to say.  Say it in a way that people outside your profession or organization will understand it.  “We’re all in this together” goes a long way, because we’re usually all in this together.  You and your stakeholders often face the same challenges and limitations.  Make sure your stakeholders (internal and external) know you are acting in their best interest.

Let’s get to our questions for open discussion.

 Question #1: Show of hands - who has a multi-lingual customer base, multi-lingual workforce, or both?

 Question #2: What multi-lingual emergency preparedness, emergency response, or similar resources do you make available to your employees who may be less than proficient in English?  How or in what format are those resources presented?

 Question #3: From a BC/DR standpoint, how do you continue to support your organization's multi- lingual capabilities from an alternate or evacuation location?

 Question #4: If you utilize an emergency notification system (ENS), what do you use and does it have multi-lingual capabilities?